


Heartbeat

by Spotsy



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, I know I know I'm a sap, M/M, Romance, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 04:10:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9530900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spotsy/pseuds/Spotsy
Summary: Just a short Merthur fic. No actual plot or anything, just feeling the moment. :) A friend in another fandom made a comment ages ago about listening to the heartbeat of someone you love and I was struck by the beauty of her statement.  Anyway, it stuck with me, and this is what came of it...hope you like!





	

     There is something about a heartbeat.  It’s like the essence of man’s mortality-- his passion, his sorrow, his joy, and pain; all somehow embodied in the tolling rhythm of the heart’s steady beat. 

     I hear Arthur’s now, my head lying on his chest.  I allow myself to melt against him, the sound of my warrior’s heart beating under me, filling my own heart with a strange mixture of joy and pain.

     The sound… it is beautiful.  More beautiful than any music I have ever heard.  Like a song of life… _his_ life.  The life I treasure and long since claimed as mine.   Someday I know I shall hear the strong beat falter… and stop.  I dread that day with every fiber of my being.  I know he dreads the same for me, though he would rather die than admit it, even to himself.

     Arthur stirs.  He was asleep but now he awakens, his unquestioning, sleep-filled gaze coming to rest on me.  I say nothing.  He knows without having to ask what was on my mind.  I allow myself to be drawn to him as I would to no one else.

     “Merlin,” he whispers.

     “I love you, Arthur.” I’ve told him this many, many times, but I need to say it again… need to tell him over and over how much he means to me.  It is liberating to know I am free to do so and that he will not hold it against me.

     His eyes are serious as he puts his hand against my cheek.  “I love you.”

     I kiss him, reveling in the feel of his heart beating faster as the slick, smooth tempo of our love-making ensues.   I ache at the sound of his breath catching in the stillness… at the sound of my own breath turning into near sobs at the power and exquisite beauty of the moment.   Finally spent, we lay sprawled against each other until the peaceful arms of sleep claim us both. 

     Arthur nods off first, and I place my hand where my head once lay, feeling the music of his heartbeat play against my hand.  It fills me with intense joy.  We may not have much longer on this earth together.  But at least we will die with the knowledge that we have loved… and lived… for each other. 

 

 


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